A construction company, based in the Scottish Borders, has been fined after a worker was seriously injured after being struck by a concrete beam that had fallen from a telehandler.

Derek Graham, 51, suffered severe injuries in the incident which happened on 14 March last year.

At Leicester Magistrates' Court, it was heard that Kelso-based M&J Ballantyne Ltd had been contracted to build a house in Ketto, Rutland. Concrete beams for the ground floor had arrived and been stacked around the site. The following day, workers started to install them and they were moved from their various locations around the site on a telehandler. The beams were carried either on the forks or using two slings.

In March last year, a 4.75-metre beam weighing around 300kg was placed into slings which were slung from a single fork, lifted off the ground and rotated through 90 degrees.


It is understood Mr Graham, who is from Roxburghshire, held onto the end of the beam to stop it swinging into the front of the vehicle, while another colleague lifted the telehandler forks to raise the beam to shoulder height. As the driver started to reverse the telehandler, one of the slings slipped off the fork, bringing the beam crashing down on Mr Graham.

He was airlifted to hospital and spent six weeks there undergoing a number of operations after suffering severe injuries. The court heard he remains off work and is receiving physiotherapy, however he may be unable to return to the same work as before.

Following the incident, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that a method statement prepared for the lifting of the beams said slings should be securely choked around the beam and lifted on the telehandler using a sling-lifting eye. However, Mr Graham had not seen the document and his colleague operating the telehandler had not received any formal training.

A risk assessment was found to have been carried out, but did not identify the need for a specific lifting plan or technical information on the loads to be lifted.

M&J Ballantyne Ltd, Kelso, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £551 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

(JP/MH)